How and Why do we link on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network and is fast becoming one of the most important ways to connect with employers, partners, mentors, former colleagues, employees, subject matter experts and clients. Thus, the communication which takes place here (or which could, but doesn’t) is tremendously valuable.

While many people think about LinkedIn as nothing more than a repository of resumes, as an interactional sociolinguist, I show how resumes (and indeed job postings) are only one piece of the LinkgedIn puzzle, one which only makes sense in the context of practices such as researching, connecting, referring, endorsing and discussing.